A friend of mine lives in Thailand and has opened a web-based business. The services are offered in Thailand and are acccepting monies from inside and outside of Thailand. The bank account is outside Thailand which is accepting credit card payment.

Do they need a WP? And do they need to pay taxes in Thailand? Does the company have to be registered? Yes, they live in Thailand but the site is registered in North America.

Does anyone out there know? Thanks.

In some obscure technical way, yes, they are supposed to form a company here, pay taxes, obtain work permit, etc. In practice - provided that they are not delivering an illegal service (i.e. kiddie porn, defamation of Thai Royalty), it is extremely unlikely that anything bad will happen to them. If they are Americans, and they avoid filing and paying US taxes, that is another thing.

The main penalty they pay is inability to remain in Thailand without making frequent visa runs, and inability to engage in formal business dealings here that require a company and legal signature authority. My guess is that these are not important issues to your friend.

Cheers!

Indo-Siam

No, my friends are not Americans so they don't have to worry about this. They are doing a business and are in competition against a Thai company. Their model is better and will make more money than the Thais. My friend wants to know if it is alright because all of their bases are covered.....they live here in LOS without a company, WP, and they provide services in Thailand but payment is received out of the country. Also, the web site registeration is based out of the country. It's a pretty good deal for my friend......no taxes anywhere!

What's your opinion? Do you think there can be any possible problems?

Hmm - Well I can certainly see a problem! You say they compete with a Thai company. What's the first thing that company will do when it sees that it is losing business to another company? They will try to check out this competitor. If they find out that your friend has no WP etc etc, then a simple tip-off to the Thai authoriities and voila - end of competition

Simon